Post #3

I went home over this past weekend because of some personal issues that I felt I needed my family for, I will not go further into it, but I will say that it actually helped me out with this project as well. I went to see a former English teacher of mine on Friday (Oct. 3^rd) seeing as we have been friends since I graduated. I went there for comfort, but was actually given something more. I had student taught with her last May for a practicum and one of the young women that had inspired me to take on this topic was in her class again. I ended up doing an impromptu interview with her and this is what went down:

Me: What was the biggest challenge of “coming out?”

Sara*: My family. They didn’t, like, you know, understand why or how it happened.

Me: Were they angry with you?

Sara: Not really angry, more like disappointed. My dad still kind of doesn’t believe it, even though Tina* lives with us now.

Me: May I ask why she lives with you?

Sara: Oh yeah, Tina’s parents are really religious. They got real mad. They ended up kickin’ her out and now she stays with me and my famiy.

Me: How did your friends react?

Sara: I was mad. Some of my friends thought I was joking until they saw Tina and me together. But whatever. They got upset and told me I was going to hell. I don’t care about them anymore.

Me: So how long have you and Tina been together?

Sara: Uummmm, about 10 months now. We’re happy. And that’s all I care about, everyone else don’t matter.

*Names were changed in the interest of privacy.

I was very impressed with Sara’s outlook on the whole subject. She seemed very secure with herself and with talking about it. I could tell she truly was hurt by those that had rejected her “coming out” and seems to resent her father still a bit. Hearing about this from her point of view, however, was the real learning experience for me.

Apologies and post #2

I would like to apologize to both my classmates and my professor that this has not been updated regularly. This semester has been a big mess for me and I fell behind with this project. Luckily, I have kept up with my research and involvement with my topic, I’ve just been terrible with postings. So I apologize. I hope you enjoy it now!

EDIT: Apparently I’m really bad at this blog thing, because it didn’t post any of the posts I added last week because I wasn’t saving it, and it posted blank. So I apologize yet again! But here it goes: This should work now.

Post #2 – specific aspect:

One related to my topic of Homosexuality in America’s High schools, is Michael Glatze. He was once a large advocate and activist for gay rights and was involved extensively with gay youth. In one article I found of him, he had declared that he was no longer gay and had given up activism. The article can be found here: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=42379.

I find this man to be ridiculous. He claims that he simply “stopped being gay” and is now “liberated.” Bull. This man is a disgrace. Talk about marginalization. Here is a man, who once considered himself gay, “renouncing” this former aspect of his life and using God and religion as a shield. It’s all about religion. It’s brainwashing.

I find it hard to believe that he simply just stopped being gay and was all of a sudden liberated and saved. I seriously wonder what this man went through to make him come to the conclusion that making a move like this would be a good idea. He’s alienating his friends and former allies. What a slap in the face for those in the young gay community who looked up to him as an editor of the Young Gay America magazine. I wish I knew what was going on inside his head to create this kind of animosity.

One of my biggest pet peeves are those that believe or perpetuate the belief that homosexuality is some sort of choice and that they’re all going to hell for sinning. Glatze is an abomination to the gay community. He is lying, or had been in the past. Whatever his true sexual orientation, he lied one way or another, he has most likely lost the support of most.

Unfortunately, people like Glatze are the ones who get the most coverage. After all, controversy gets more readers than those that are working hard every day doing good. Heck, I even chose to write this blog about him instead of someone simple and non-controversial.

Homosexuality in Modern American High Schools

I believe that Homosexuality is one of the more prominent and intriguing issues being looked at in American high schools today. Although there is certainly still opposition to this alternative style of living, Homosexuality is becoming more and more accepted within the pinnacles of today's youth.

I chose this topic because of an observation that I had made in May while I was doing three weeks of student teaching at my old high school. While I was working with Juniors and Seniors in the high school, I was somewhat surprised to learn that no less than four of the students in the classes I was teaching were openly gay.

Now, when I was in high school, just four short years ago, we had the occasional person who would come "out of the closet" and quite a few people who claimed to be gay and/or bisexual just to get attention and rebel. It was becoming more accepted, but most people that were homosexual still kept it under wraps.

While student teaching, I had two young women in one class that were dating. They were actually a very cute couple and quite popular among their class-mates. They were nominated for cutest couple, and I'm sad to say I did not get a chance to find out if they won. This is another example, to me, of how much more accepted homosexuality is becoming in US high schools.

I want to delve deeper into this subject. I'd like to see just how these issues are looked at in US high schools, and how and why opinions are changing about gay students. I'd also like to see if this progression I've observed also holds true in other cities, counties, and states.